Re: [gentoo-embedded] PPC embedded base package

[Quentin Arce]

Anthony,

I have looked at this in my work and at home.  Work we
have used the 8248 and 8245.  Home, I am working on a
small x86 based system.  Gentoo will work for your
target... but, you really want to think about if you
should.  Think long term support.  Also, think about
the build system, stability.  In working on my own
mini x86 based linux distro based on Gentoo... So,
far... you can do it.  You can cross compile it, but,
there are still some packages that don't seem to work
just yet.  You want the base layout lite.  And you
want a system based on Busybox for the size you are
targeting.  Check out the portage profiles:

/usr/portage/profiles/embedded
/usr/portage/profiles/uclibc
/usr/portage/profiles/default-ppc-2004.3

I am now using the uclibc for my x86 project.  I used
the default-ppc-2004.3 to build a 8248 rootfs.  The
size was way too big to be burned into the flash
though.  

You could come up with your own custom profile, inject
any packages you need and then you could use portage.

OR

You could use something like Debian to build a mini
root and strip it of all cruft.  (hint, hint)  You
could even do this on an x86 system and then write a
few scripts to fix the post scripts from the deb
install. (hint hint)  Then just sync the built root to
another directory, clean the clone and build a jffs2
image.

OR

You can go the full custom route via LFS or your own
home grown.


I have learned quite a bit since I started with ppc
embedded.  I'm still learning with mini x86.

Q



--- Anthony Russello <arussello@××××××.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Thanks for the reply, I'm sorry it took so long to
> get back to you, but
> I never received an email to me until the digest
> caught up.
>
> We're working on a small NAS-like device.  Very
> light weight, and
> targetting to consumers rather than businesses, so
> everything will be
> pretty simple.
>
> I'm currently working on getting a 2.6.x kernel up
> on the early boards.
> Once that's up and running, I'll be working on the
> rootfs.  I've been
> doing a lot of checking as far as dependencies go,
> and I've got the
> libraries narrowed down substantially.  We're also
> using the 2.2.x samba
> branch, since the 3.x branch requires a large number
> of libraries that
> we don't want to include.
>
> I've been ensuring that every binary going into the
> image is stripped so
> far as well.
>
> I guess I was kind of hoping that the gentoo
> embedded group was working
> with small root filesystem sizes, and whether or not
> there was a base
> layout package that would simply contain things like
> pre-populated /dev,
> and other absolutely essential sources like that.
>
> Are there any plans for such a package?  Perhaps
> with makefiles that
> would leverage cross compilers to create a base
> system for target X on
> host Y?
>
> It would make embedded development incredibly easy
> with cross compilers
> and base layout packages of that sort ready to be
> emerged into /opt or
> something like that.
>
> Thanks,
> Anthony
>
> On Tue, 2005-04-12 at 08:29 -0700, Quentin Arce
> wrote:
> >
> > One thing you may want to keep in mind when
> building
> > your system is to make sure all bins are stripped.
>
> > Also, some embedded companies have tools which
> > determine which libs are being used on the system
> and
> > remove all others from the final image.  Just to
> > squeeze that last bit of space out.
> >
> > Also, don't forget to remove all other un-needed
> > files.  Like /var/db, all man, etc.
> >
> > Q
> >
> >
> > --- Anthony Russello <arussello@××××××.com> wrote:
> > > Hi All,
> > >
> > > I'm working on a base layout for an embedded
> system
> > > based on the
> > > Freescale 8241 chip, and was wondering what
> might be
> > > available in the
> > > world of gentoo for that purpose.
> > >
> > > Here are the requirements we've laid out:
> > >
> > > Read/write /etc (jffs2 filesystem)
> > > /var is a ramdisk, /tmp is a symlink to /var/tmp
> > > / is read only otherwise (cramfs filesystem)
> > >
> > > As far as apps, we basically just need:
> > >
> > > boa
> > > busybox
> > > samba 2.2.x (samba 3 requires additional
> libraries
> > > in the final image)
> > > sysvinit
> > > sqlite
> > > quota-tools
> > > sys-utils
> > > e2fsprogs
> > >
> > > Now, we created one a while back using an axis
> chip,
> > > and they had a full
> > > development package that we just modified as
> needed.
> > >  In the end we
> > > wound up with an image that had about 2 MB left
> over
> > > of the eight.
> > > RIght now, we're kind of starting fresh with an
> 8241
> > > based system, so I
> > > wanted to get some input on what recommendations
> you
> > > might have.
> > >
> > > I've already been playing around with a custom
> thing
> > > from the ground up.
> > > But just in case, I'd like to see if there is
> > > something else we could
> > > look into.
> > >
> > > I've been using gentoo for quite some time now
> > > (since the 1.4 days) but
> > > I haven't been following the gentoo embedded
> list
> > > for the most part.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Anthony
> > >
> > > --
> > > gentoo-embedded@g.o mailing list
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
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